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A7
news
Thursday, March 12, 2015 www.guardian.co.tt Guardian
Miguel Moses
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YVONNE BABOOLAL
Former chief justice Sat Sharma
says People s National Movement
(PNM) Senator Faris Al-Rawi is
wrong to insist he is doing nothing
illegal by being a witness in a case
in which he is also the instructing
attorney.
"There was a case decision by
Justice (Vashiest) Kokaram that an
instructing attorney should not give
evidence in a matter in which he
is involved," Sharma said yester-
day.
"It is a conflict of interest. It was
a decision of the court.
"A judge has decided it to be so
and based on that Al-Rawi is
wrong."
Sharma said it was also unethical
for Al-Rawi to be a witness in a
case in which he was the instructing
attorney.
His comments come two days
after Prime Minister Kamla Per-
sad-Bissessar called on the Law
Association to probe whether Al-
Rawi was in breach of the Legal
Profession Act by being the
instructing attorney and a witness
in the same case.
Al-Rawi is the instructing attor-
ney and a witness in the defamation
lawsuit involving Opposition Leader
Dr Keith Rowley and former attor-
ney general Anand Ramlogan, aris-
ing out of the Section 34 matter.
Another senior legal source, who
asked not to be identified, said
under colonial rule a separation was
made between solicitors and bar-
risters.
A solicitor acted as the instructing
attorney providing information and
the barrister fought the case in
court.
"This is how it was in the UK
and how we did it here, as well,"
the legal source said.
"Under that English system, the
solicitor was allowed to give evi-
dence in a matter in which he was
involved but a barrister could not."
He said with the passage of the
local Legal Profession Act, solicitors
and barristers were united under
one category of lawyers called attor-
neys.
The legal source said the question
of ethics would arise if there was
a rule of conduct in the act disal-
lowing instructing attorneys from
being witnesses.
He said an instructing attorney
would generally go into the witness
box in relation to some procedural
matter or the service of a document.
If it concerns other matters, it would
be preferable for the instructing
attorney to withdraw as a witness
in the case, he said.
In response to the PM s question,
however, Al-Rawi said he was not
in breach of any code. He said while
the barrister who was articulating
the case at the bar should never sit
in the witness box, it was not
unusual for the instructing attorney
to do so.
RACHAEL ESPINET
Western Division
police were yesterday
involved in a shootout
with
unknown
assailants at Cameron
Hill, Diego Martin.
The officers came
under fire while on an
exercise in the area and
had to be assisted by
officers from the Guard
and Emergency Unit.
Head of Western
Division, Snr Supt
Carlisle Huggins, told
T&T Guardian that at
about 7 am, a party of
ten officers, headed by
Sargent Arneaud, were
on a routine marijuana
eradication exercise
when they were shot at.
The officers called for
assistance and eight
officers from Guard and
Emergency were carried
With regards to the
police sickout, Huggins
said the Western
Division was not
affected by that action
yesterday.
On Monday and
Tuesday, officers from
the Police, Fire and
Prisons Services took
"unofficial protest
action," where some
called in sick and
others were on a "go
slow."
Huggins said officers
in his division turned
out to work on
Monday, Tuesday and
yesterday.
"Officers are resting
and reflecting on the
job. There is no go
slow down here. "
Two policemen attached to the Central Division Task Force search these two
young men along Roopsingh Road, Carapichaima, yesterday. The police found
nothing illegal in their possession and allowed them to proceed on their way.
PHOTO: RISHI RAGOONATH
Ex-CJ backs PM's breach claim
In a 2012 high court ruling,
Justice Kokaram, in the matter
of Hosein Construction vs 3G
Technologies, said an attorney
cannot be a witness in the same
matter.
"It is objectionable for the
instructing attorney to give
evidence while being an attorney
on record for this party. It is a
breach of rule to defy the code
of ethics."
Al-Rawi wrong
says Sharma
to the location by the
Viper 3 helicopter. The
officers under fire were
later safely extracted
from the situation and
no one was injured dur-
ing the shootout.
Huggins said the
officers were able to
seize a large quantity of
marijuana from three
fields but were still try-
ing to determine the
amount.
Investigations are
ongoing.
Cops on Diego drug
exercise come under fire
BLUE FLU HEALING
JUDGE'S RULING
STOP & SEARCH